


Luz's Malicious Matchmaker

by Amity_towards_all



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26375560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amity_towards_all/pseuds/Amity_towards_all
Summary: When Boscha realizes that Amity has a crush on Luz, she decides to get even by setting Luz up on a date with someone else, much to Amity's dismay.Then, when Eda meets Luz's date and thinks he's boring, she and King decide to do some matchmaking themselves and find her someone better.Meanwhile, Amity and Willow get closer together.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Boscha, Amity Blight & Willow Park & Gus Porter, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Hooty & King & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & King & Jerbo
Comments: 51
Kudos: 403





	1. Amity's Secret Revealed

Boscha wasn’t happy. She knew that by all rights she should be, or at least that’s what she told herself. She’d won the grudgby match yesterday, after all, and shown her dominance. But she knew that she hadn’t _really_ won it. As soon as the game ended, her teammates flocked over to Half-a-Witch Willow just because she’d played a halfway decent match using her silly plants. And it was all because that annoying human Luz had given them a few encouraging words during the game. What did those weaklings want, for her to baby them? Too many kind words and they’d get complacent. But as irksome as all of that was, none of it was particularly surprising.

What _was_ surprising was Amity. What in the world had happened to her recently? Missing Skara’s fabulous party, hanging out with Willow and the human, finally playing grudgby again, but only to challenge her and join a bunch of losers. It was bizarre. What had possessed her?

Boscha looked at Amity as she considered this. She was in the only class the two of them shared, along with Luz. Amity was seated right in front of her, looking at Luz, who was staring intently at the professor. Amity had this goofy smile on her face.

That was odd. The Amity she knew would be paying close attention. No, it made sense. She’d probably been the only one to actually do the preliminary reading and already knew everything the teacher was saying.

But what was up with that funny look on her face? If Boscha didn’t know any better, she’d think Amity had a crush on the human. But that was impossible. Right?

Boscha considered it. It _would_ explain why Amity had suddenly started acting so differently. Could it really be true? It did look a lot like Amity wasn’t just looking at Luz but rather gazing at her. Longingly. And that goofy smile. Boscha had never seen that expression on Amity’s face before.

Oh, this was hilarious! Amity Blight had a crush on a weird, loser human! Boscha let out a chuckle.

Luz didn’t notice anything, but Amity heard her. That goofy smile disappeared. She turned apprehensively in Boscha’s direction, and her eyes widened as she saw the smug, mocking expression on Boscha's face. Amity turned to the front of the class and didn’t look in Luz’s direction again.

Once the class had ended, all the students rushed out except for Amity and Boscha, who lingered and left the room together after everyone else.

“So,” Boscha said smugly. “Amity Blight goes soft because of a crush on a human! Pitiful.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Amity replied.

“Now it makes sense why you stopped hanging out with us and started hanging out with vine girl.”

“My feelings towards Luz had nothing to do with that. I just wanted to spend time with a better class of people.”

“So you do admit you have feelings towards Luz.”

“Uh, wait… what?”

Boscha smirked.

Amity didn’t say anything for a moment. “Are you going to say something to her?” she finally asked.

Boscha considered it. “No, I’d just be doing you a favor. Poor Amity, not only have you gone soft because of a crush, you can’t even work up the courage to tell her. It’s going to be fun watching you squirm.”

Boscha started to leave, but then turned her head. “Although, who knows? I might change my mind.” She walked off with a chuckle.


	2. The Match

Boscha was in a good mood now. As far as she was concerned, every possibility worked out. If Amity remained unable to admit her feelings to Luz, she’d be able to keep tormenting her about it. If Amity did admit them and got rejected, she’d be crushed. And if Amity and Luz got together, she’d just mock them.

Boscha was looking for Skara to tell her about this absurd development when she suddenly got a wicked idea. What if the human got together with someone else first? Amity would be heartbroken! But who’d want to date that weird human?

Boscha looked around the hallway for some prospects. She spotted a shy boy from the potions track. What was his name? Zimmy, that was it. He’d do.

Boscha walked over to Zimmy and put on her best attempt at a sweet voice.

“Zimmy! How’s it going?”

Zimmy jumped and retreated a few steps. He’d been terrified of Boscha ever since she’d yelled at him for annoying her in class by tapping his pencil, an incident Boscha didn’t remember. “Uh… fine, Boscha. I didn’t do anything to upset you, did I?”

“Of course not, silly! I just wanted to get to know you better! So, are you dating anyone?”

“N-No,” he said. “You’re not… asking me out, are you?” He had a look of abject terror on his face.

“Are you joking!” Boscha blurted out. Then she remembered she was supposed to be turning on the charm and put on her fake smile. “Oh Zimmy, you’re so funny! No, I was thinking you should date Luz! You know, the human girl.”

“Oh. Well, we don’t really know each other. I don’t think we’ve ever even spoken.”

“That’s OK! Trust me, you’d make a great couple! You should ask her out!”

“I don’t know…”

Boscha was losing her patience. Her fake smile and sickeningly sweet voice disappeared as she took a step forward in Zimmy’s direction. Zimmy took another step back and found that he was against the wall now.

“I don’t think you’re hearing me, Zimmy. I want you to ask Luz out. Now. And don’t tell her I gave you the idea. And you’d better hope she says yes. Understand?”

“O-OK…”

Boscha turned the sweet voice back on again. “Great! You’re going to have a lot of fun!”

* * *

Amity looked as Luz struggled to collect the books from her locker. Boscha had given her the impetus she needed. She was going to tell Luz how she felt about her. She approached the locker.

“Luz,” she said.

“Hey, Amity! Boy, that class just now was tough. Who knew there were so many types of cauldrons?”

“Luz, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Sure, Amity, what’s up?”

“Well… uh…” Amity was having a hard time knowing where to start. “Actually, it might be better if I tell you after school.”

“You can’t just leave me in suspense like that! Come on, give me a hint!”

Amity didn’t know what to say.

At that moment, Zimmy came by the locker.

“Hi,” he said, looking off to the side. “Sorry, am I interrupting you guys?”

“No!” Amity said, happy that someone had come along to distract Luz. “Go ahead, what were you going to say?” She had no idea how much she was about to regret saying that.

“I was just hoping to talk to Luz.” He still wasn’t making eye contact. “Luz, I don’t think you know me…”

“Sure I do! Zimmy, right? We have some potions classes together.”

“Oh? Yeah, I’m Zimmy. Anyway… I was wondering whether you might… want to go out on a date with me sometime.”

Amity gasped. Her mouth was agape. Luz didn’t seem to notice her reaction.

“Jiminy Crickets!” Luz said. “You really want to go on a date with me?”

“Yeah…” Zimmy said. Then he glanced at Boscha, who was watching from a distance. “Please say yes,” he squeaked out.

“Hmm… yeah, why not! It’ll be fun!”

Amity’s heart sank as Zimmy breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks so much, Luz! You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.” She really didn’t. Zimmy ran off.

“He seemed really nervous,” Luz said. “Maybe he’s never asked anyone out before.”

To Amity he seemed less nervous and more afraid for his life.

Amity couldn’t believe it. Why hadn't she just told Luz how she felt?

“Luz, are… are you sure you want to go out with Zimmy? You barely know him.”

“It’s only one date, Amity. It’s not like I agreed to marry him.” Luz laughed.

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“Uh, nothing I guess.”

Luz finished struggling with the locker to get her books for her next class. “You know, I’ve never been asked out before. I’m only fourteen, so that’s not such a big deal. But back home, every so often I used to wonder whether I was so weird that no one would ever want to go out with me.”

“Oh, Luz, that’s not true!”

Luz giggled. “Yeah, looks like it!” She went off to class.

Amity lingered at Luz's locker, crestfallen, until she noticed Boscha in the hallway looking at her and realized she’d probably seen the whole thing. She glared and went over to her.

“Don’t you have anything better to do, Boscha?”

“I guess not,” she replied with a laugh.


	3. Plans with Willow

Amity had been feeling down all day thinking of how she’d missed her chance with Luz. Maybe she could still tell her how she felt. But Luz was so excited for this date. She didn’t want to complicate things for her.

Amity glumly made her way through the halls when Luz approached her.

“Amity!”

Amity tried to put on a happy face. “Hi Luz. How’s it going?”

“Great! I saw Zimmy again. He thought we could go to the Museum of Monstrous Art tomorrow. They're unveiling a new exhibit.”

"Oh? That sounds really nice. Maybe I’ll check it out too.” What was she saying?

“Maybe we’ll see you there!” Luz said and walked off.

A few minutes later, Amity spotted Willow in the hallway. She waved, and Willow approached her.

“Hi, Amity,” Willow said. “Luz told me about her date.”

"Oh. Yeah, I was there when it happened.”

After a few moments of silence, Willow asked “Are you OK, Amity?”

“Huh? Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No reason. Just checking.”

There was another awkward silence. “Hey, Willow, are you doing anything tomorrow?” Amity asked impulsively.

“No.”

“What if we went to the unveiling of the new exhibit tomorrow at the Museum of Monstrous Art?”

Amity regretted saying it as soon as it came out of her mouth. What was she doing? Trying to connive a way to spy on Luz’s date?

“You mean… just the two of us?” Willow asked in a tone of voice that made Amity feel sick.

Amity had thought that things would be better between her and Willow after the grudgby match, but her tone made it clear that she was still uncomfortable with the idea of spending too much time together. And why wouldn’t she be? Did Amity really think that things could be smoothed over between the two of them so quickly after all this time?

Amity felt terrible. Here she was trying to use Willow in some hare-brained scheme to spy on Luz’s date.

“Please, Willow? We don’t have to go to the museum. We can do anything you want. I promise you, Willow, you won’t regret this.”

“Well… OK…” Willow said.

“Just leave everything to me.”

Amity decided she was going to forget about Luz for the moment, or at least try to, and focus on showing Willow the most fun day of her life. It was the least she could do.


	4. Eda Meets Luz's Date and Is Not Impressed

The next day at the Owl House, Eda and King waited with Luz for her date to arrive.

“This is going to be great!” Luz said.

“I don’t know if I like the idea of you going out on dates,” said King. “If you’re out all the time, who’s going to rub my belly?”

“Aww, King, you know I’ll always have time for you.” Luz tickled King’s belly and he laughed gleefully.

“So, when do I get to meet the lucky boy?” asked Eda.

“He should be here any minute.”

“This brings back memories of my first date! Although that did end with the two of us kidnapped by river pirates. You two aren’t going near the water, are you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Luuuuz, your guest is here!” Hooty called out.

“Oh great!” Luz said.

Zimmy entered the room nervously. “Hi, Luz,” he said.

“Don’t worry, Zimmy, you can relax. Hooty freaks everyone out.”

“O-OK.”

“So, this is the lucky lad that gets to take Luz out!” Eda went over to Zimmy and slapped him on the back, which made him jump. “I’m Eda, the Owl Lady! The most powerful witch on The Boiling Isles!”

“And I’m the King of Demons!” King declared.

Zimmy stepped back nervously.

"Relax, kid," Eda said. "I don't bite."

"At least not usually!" King said.

“You want something to drink, kid? Apple blood?” Eda asked.

“N-No, thank you. I’m fine.”

There was an awkward silence for a few moments. “So, Zimmy, tell me about yourself!” Eda said. “What do you like to do?”

“Well... I like to draw…”

“Really? So do I!” Luz said.

“Really?” For the first time, Zimmy had the trace of a smile.

“Yeah!”

“So what do you like to draw?” Eda asked. “Monsters? Battles? People getting devoured by vegetables?”

King shuddered. “My worst nightmare!”

“Uh, still lifes, mostly,” Zimmy replied.

“Still lifes? What are those?” Eda asked.

“It’s a painting of something inanimate,” Zimmy said.

“You mean… like a dead body?”

Zimmy shuddered. “I suppose, but usually it’s something like a bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers.”

“So… you draw bowls of fruit?” Eda asked.

“Yeah, and other things.”

“That’s really cool, Zimmy!” Luz said.

“Yeah…” Eda said.

“Can I see them sometime?” Luz asked.

“Oh, I don’t ever show them to people. I’m not very good…”

Eda tapped her finger on her arm impatiently. “So, Zimmy, what’s the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into at Hexside?”

“Oh, I try to avoid trouble.”

“Hmm…”

“Hey, we’d better get going if we want to check out the museum before the unveiling,” Luz said. She grabbed Zimmy by the arm, which made him jump, and ran out the door.

“See you guys soon!” Luz called out.

“I don’t like this, King,” Eda said once they'd left.

“What? He seems nice.”

“Yeah, and boring. What are they going to do on their second date, paint a bunch of bananas? Luz deserves a better date than that.” She paced around a bit. “I bet I could set her up with someone who would make her forget all about him.”

“You’re going to set Luz up on a date? Isn’t that kind of weird?”

“Since when are you the voice of reason? Besides, my parents set me up on a date with a nice boy when I was around Luz’s age.”

“I thought he tried to steal your eyeballs.”

“OK, he wasn’t _that_ nice.” Eda rubbed her chin. “OK, I want someone for Luz who won’t just blindly follow all the rules like this kid. Someone who’s not afraid to make some trouble.”

“What about one of the kids Luz met in detention!”

“Great idea, King! Do you remember any of their names?”

“I do!” Hooty called out.

Eda groaned. “OK, Hooty, who are they?”

“There’s Barcus, Viney, and Jerbo. See, you should listen more carefully when Luz tells you about her day. And to me, too. Why just today–”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s enough out of you,” Eda said. “OK, we’re going to have to break into Hexside’s files, find out about these detention kids, decide who’s best for Luz, track them down, and shape them into Luz’s dream date all in the next hour or so. What do you say, King, you ready for one more caper?”

“Well, I was going to polish my horns, but I guess that can wait until tomorrow. Let’s get going!”


	5. Amity's and Willow's Day Out

Amity wanted to plan the perfect day for Willow, but it was harder than she’d expected. It had been so long since they’d been friends that she really didn’t know much about Willow’s interests anymore. But she was confident that she’d planned things perfectly.

She waited at the market for Willow to arrive. And she did, along with Gus, which Amity hadn’t expected.

“Hi, Amity,” Willow said. “I brought Gus along. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not!” Amity said. “The more the merrier!"

In reality, Amity was a bit thrown. She’d planned the day for Willow. She had no idea whether Gus would like it.

But more importantly, Gus had been Willow’s loyal friend for so many years when she’d abandoned her, and she hadn’t even thought to include him. How inconsiderate was she?

And had Willow brought Gus along just to include him, or was she so uncomfortable at the thought of the two of them alone that she’d brought Gus along as a buffer?

Amity shook it off. “I think you’re really going to have a good time today Willow! I thought we’d go to the botanical gardens.”

“Oh… that’s nice of you, Amity, but I just went to the botanical gardens last weekend with my parents. And to be honest, I’ve been working with plants all day. I was kind of hoping to do something else.”

“Oh.” Amity felt like kicking herself. She should’ve known there was more to Willow than plants. “Well… are you hungry? There’s this great restaurant I thought we could go to. They serve you these eight little dishes…”

“Oh, I know that place. I’m sorry, Amity, I can’t go there. I’m allergic to octopus. And the chef is an octopus.”

“Oh.” Amity had wanted to surprise Willow, but maybe she should’ve just talked to her about what to do. “Well, there’s this little play they’re putting on in the park–”

“I’ve already seen it,” Gus said.

 _Well no one asked you to come!_ Amity felt like screaming. But that wasn’t true. Willow had asked him to come. And if she’d been a halfway decent friend, she would’ve asked him first.

“Hey, what about the bemusement part?” Gus said. Then he glanced at Amity’s cast and crutches. With them on, she wouldn’t be able to ride most of the rides. “Oh, sorry, I forgot.”

“Uh, yeah, let’s go to the bemusement park!” Amity said. “I’ll be OK. You guys can ride the rides, and I’ll just wait while you’re on them.”

“That doesn’t sound very fun for you,” Willow said.

“I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about me.”

Gus nodded. “Well, if you insist…”

“No, Amity,” Willow said. “Gus and I can go to the bemusement park another day. Let’s think of something we can all do together. Hey, Amity, what’s wrong?”

Amity realized her face must’ve taken on a sad expression without her even realizing it. “It’s nothing.”

“Come on, Amity, you can tell me.”

“It’s just… I really wanted to show you a fun time. But all I’m doing is ruining your day. Maybe… maybe you two should go to the bemusement park together… and I’ll just go home.”

Amity turned to walk away.

“No!” Willow called out. She couldn’t forget everything that had happened between the two of them, but she could see that Amity was really trying, and she appreciated that. “Amity, you’re not ruining anything! I’m having a good time.”

Amity turned back around. “Really?”

“Yeah, honest! Right, Gus?”

“Yeah,” Gus said less enthusiastically.

Amity smiled. “Thanks, Willow.”

“Hey, I know!” Willow said. “Why don’t we go to the Museum of Monstrous Art for that unveiling like you suggested yesterday.”

Amity gasped. “Uh, what?”

“Yeah, that might be good!” Gus said.

Amity tried to think of a reason not to go, but she couldn’t. “Are you sure you guys would like that?”

“Yeah!" Willow said. "We’d better get going if we want to get there in time.”

Amity had no choice but to follow them. She just hoped that somehow they wouldn’t run into Luz.


	6. Dating Lessons with Eda and King

King and Eda approached Hexside.

“OK, King, you’ve got the fire crystals?”

“As many as I can carry. Which is not that many!”

“Don’t worry, the security in the file room is a joke. I used to break in all the time when I was just a student.”

"Then how come you never did anything about your permanent record?"

"Who says I didn't? But if I'd gotten rid of the _whole_ thing they would've known something was up. You should've seen the size of it _before_ I'd gotten to it."

At that moment, a group of students exited the building, probably from some club meeting or other after-school activity that had just ended, and one of them happened to be Jerbo.

“Hey,” King said. “That kid has a uniform with two colors. He must be one of the detention kids!”

“You’re right! Well, I’d hoped to pick out which one was best for Luz, but this does save us time. OK, let’s get him.”

They approached him.

“Hey, you’re Gerbil, right?” Eda called out.

Jerbo turned towards them. “It’s Jerbo. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Yes! I’m Luz’s mentor. We need you to ask her out on a date.”

Jerbo raised an eyebrow. “You _need_ me to? Why?”

“As we speak, Luz is out on a date with someone completely wrong for her,” Eda said.

“What, is he mean? Violent?”

“Well, not exactly…”

“Let me handle this,” King said. “Listen, kid, Luz is completely under this boy’s spell, and you’re the only person who could possibly break her out of it!”

“Really? I’m the only one who could?” Jerbo was flattered. “But being under someone’s spell… that doesn’t sound like Luz.”

“Exactly,” King said. “That’s why we’re so worried!”

“Well, OK, I guess I could help. I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

“You don’t understand,” Eda said. “You need to ask her out now, and before that, we need to transform you into her dream boy. Let’s get to work.”

“But I have homework!”

“Yes!” King said. “There’s a lot of homework in making yourself into Luz’s perfect date! So let’s get to it!”

Before Jerbo had a chance to protest, they grabbed him, and Eda readied her staff to fly them back to the Owl House at top speed.

* * *

Back at the Owl House, the lessons didn’t go smoothly.

“No, no, no!” King said. “Malingale is a _soothsayer_ , not a sorcerer. And Hecate doesn’t team up with Azura until book five.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier if I just read the books?”

“There’s no time for that! Now pay attention!”

“We’re going to have to put the Azura lessons on hold, King,” Eda said. “OK, we saw at Grom that Luz likes to dance.”

“I don’t dance much," Jerbo said. "Are you going to teach me?”

“Unfortunately, I’m not much of a dancer myself," Eda said. "But we have a great one in the house. Well, not _in_ the house, exactly.”

Hooty appeared. “OK, Jerbo, let me lead!”

Jerbo tried dancing with Hooty, but before long he got tangled up in Hooty’s tubular body and they both fell down.

“You’ve got two left feet, kid!” Hooty said.

“At least I _have_ feet,” Jerbo replied.

Eda sighed. “Well, this’ll have to do. We’re running out of time. Let’s head to the museum.”


	7. Luz's Date

Luz was in awe at all the paintings in the museum. Landscapes sure were different on the Boiling Isles than back home.

“This one was painted by a demon with eyes five feet apart,” Zimmy explained. “So you have to look at it through these special glasses to get the full effect.” He pointed to a set of what looked like giant opera glasses installed in front of the painting.

Luz looked through them. “Whoa! It makes a big difference.”

They perused a few more paintings.

“You really like art, don’t you Zimmy,” Luz said.

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you let me see some of your drawings?”

“I’m not very good…”

“Hey, we all had to start somewhere. And maybe you’re better than you think.” She handed Zimmy her notepad. “Come on, draw me something.”

“Gee, I’m not used to drawing something so quickly…”

“Zimmy, I won’t judge you. I promise.”

Zimmy took the notepad, looked at one of the simpler paintings in the room, and quickly drew a rough sketch of it. He showed it to Luz.

“Wow, Zimmy, this is really good!”

“R-Really?”

“Yes! I bet your still lifes are great! You shouldn’t be so afraid to show them to people. And getting their feedback will help you get better.”

“Well… maybe I _could_ show you sometime. There _is_ one that I think is pretty good.”

“Yeah! That sounds great!”

"Do you think I could see some of your drawings?"

"Sure!"

Luz showed him a few from her notepad.

"These are really great, Luz. You draw with a lot of confidence."

"Thanks!"

They looked at a few more paintings.

“Zimmy, can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure.”

“You seem pretty nervous.”

“S-sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I just wanted to know if there’s anything I could do to make you more comfortable.”

“Oh, that’s really nice of you, Luz. But it’s not you. I just tend to get kind of skittish around people I don’t know well. Especially when they’re intimidating, like Boscha.”

“Boscha?”

Zimmy hadn’t meant to mention Boscha. He must’ve still been thinking about their encounter the day before.

“Yeah, Boscha’s been kind of bossing me around lately.”

“Come on, you can’t let Boscha boss you around!”

“I guess I shouldn’t, but I just get so nervous around her.”

“I’ve dealt with Boscha. If she ever gives you a hard time, I’ll have your back.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Next time she tries to boss you around, just say ‘Boscha, I don’t have to do what you say!’ OK?”

“I guess I’ll try…”

“I don’t know, Zimmy, that didn’t sound too convincing to me. How about this: pretend that I’m Boscha.”

“Well, OK.”

Luz took out a crayon and drew a third eye on her forehead, which made Zimmy chuckle. Then she gave him an exaggerated glare. “Zimmy, you’d better do what I say, understand?”

Zimmy burst out laughing. It was the most relaxed Luz had seen him.

“What’s so funny?” Luz asked.

“It’s just that was so unlike you.”

“You just think that because you’ve never gotten on my bad side.”

They both laughed.

* * *

Eda, King, and Jerbo had been looking throughout the museum for Luz and Zimmy. They were in a room full of still lifes.

“Hey, there they are!” King said. “In the next room over! Eda, did you hear me?”

Eda was staring intently at a still life of a bunch of bananas. “It’s so… vivid…” Then she shook her head as if snapping herself out of a trance. “King, where are they?”

He pointed. Eda saw the two of them laughing and looking like they were having a great time.

“Wow, he looks like a different person,” King said.

Eda smiled. “King, let’s go home. I think those two are going to be all right.”

“Really?” King said.

“Yeah, maybe I was too quick to judge the kid. And I think we can trust Luz to decide whom she wants to date herself.”

“Yeah, given some of your exes, maybe _she_ should be picking out dates for _you_ instead of the other way around.”

“Hey, don’t push it, fuzzball.”

“Wait, so after all that we’re just going to not go through with it?” Jerbo asked.

“Sorry,” Eda said. “How about I make it up to you? I’ll set you up with someone else. Oh, there’s a nice girl your age who gets potions from me! And she has such interesting hobbies! Every boy your age likes fire, right?”

“On second thought, maybe we should just call it a night.”

* * *

Zimmy felt guilty. Luz was really nice. And maybe she’d make a good friend. But he just wasn’t interested in dating anyone right then. And even if he was now glad that they’d gotten to know each other a little, he knew he should’ve never asked Luz out under those circumstances, no matter how scared he’d been of Boscha.

“Luz, there’s something I should tell you…”

“Oh! Hold that thought, Zimmy, I just spotted my friends!”

She waved to Gus, Willow, and Amity, who were across the room, and grabbed Zimmy before running over to them.

“Hey guys!” Luz said.

“Hi, Luz,” Willow said, raising an eyebrow at the eye drawn on her forehead.

Willow looked at Amity, who was desperately trying to smile. Willow felt terrible for her. Why did she have to come up with the bright idea to bring them to the museum?

“Zimmy, you remember Amity, right?” Luz said. “She was there when you asked me out. And this is Willow and Gus.”

“Hi,” Zimmy said.

Amity couldn’t believe how relaxed and comfortable Zimmy looked. And happy. Nothing at all like when he’d asked Luz out. It was no surprise. Luz always brought out the best in people. That’s what she’d done for her, after all. Zimmy was probably head over heels for her by now. How could he not be?

And Luz looked happy too.

“Uh, I think I’m going to check out this one painting in the next room over,” Amity said.

“But the unveiling is about to start!” Gus said.

“Yeah, come on Amity,” Luz said. “Let’s go over to the new exhibit.”

Amity reluctantly followed the rest of the group into the room, doing her best to look happy. But it wasn’t easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Jodoro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jodoro/pseuds/Jodoro) for giving me the idea that Luz would draw a third eye on her forehead while pretending to be Boscha.


	8. The Unveiling

The unveiling of the new exhibit was in a large hallway with openings all around. It was pretty crowded.

“Where’s the exhibit going to be?” Gus asked. “It looks like the whole room is filled with people.”

“Look up!” Luz said. There was a curtain obscuring the ceiling. “Whatever it is, it must be suspended from the ceiling and hidden by the curtain.”

They looked around and noticed other people were looking up at the ceiling too.

Willow could see that Amity was miserable. Should she try to get her out of this situation? Or would that just embarrass her and make her feel worse?

“Hey, Amity, would you feel more comfortable if we found you a chair?” Willow asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”

“Sorry, Amity!” Luz said. “I didn’t even think about that! Let’s get you a chair.”

“I’ll take care of it, Luz,” Willow said. “Why don’t we give the two of you some time alone.”

“That’s OK! You don’t mind, do you, Zimmy?”

“Not at all!” In fact, Zimmy preferred it. It made him feel less like he was on a date with Luz under false pretenses.

Willow didn’t know how to dissuade them, but, luckily, she didn’t end up needing to.

“Look, there’s someone who works here,” Luz said. “We can ask them. You guys just sit tight. Come on, Zimmy.”

The two left. Willow wasn’t sure whether Amity would prefer being alone for a bit or having the two of them there.

“Gus,” she said. “I think that spot over there has a better view. Do you… want to come with us Amity?”

“I think I’ll just stay here… if that’s OK. I’ll meet you guys after the unveiling.”

“Sure, Amity,” Willow said, and she and Gus walked off.

Amity sighed. Here she was. Alone. Again.

* * *

Once they’d gotten to their new spot, Willow looked back at Amity, hoping she was OK. Then the lights went on and off to signal that the unveiling was about to start. In the center of the room, a platform rose to the ceiling with a witch in green khakis and a pith helmet on it.

“Witches and demons, welcome to the unveiling of our new exhibit!”

The curtain retracted, revealing a huge block of amber with a monstrous creature inside. It looked like a giant tie-dyed beetle but with legs and eyes all over its body and also tentacles on each end of it.

“Wow!” Gus said to Willow.

“This creature was recently found on one of my digs, and we’re excited to present it to all of you today!”

“Isn’t this more natural history than art?” Gus asked. Willow just shrugged.

“And if you think this is impressive now, just wait until you get a clearer look through this dark amber! Lights!”

Floodlights from the corners of the hall switched on, bathing the creature in light. But as soon as they did, the creature’s eyes all opened at once. The amber block began to vibrate violently, and cracks began to form.

“Huh, maybe we should’ve tested the lights out earlier. Everybody, get out!”

The crowd started rushing to the exit. Willow and Gus held hands to make sure they didn’t get separated. Once the crowd had exited, metal barriers came down blocking off all the openings into the room.

“Wow,” Gus said. “That’s got to be the second most dangerous museum exhibit I’ve ever seen.”

“Hey, Gus,” Willow said. “Do you see Amity?”

* * *

Amity tried to get her bearings. Some moron had knocked her down when the crowd rushed to the exits. She’d be furious if she weren’t so frightened.

Amity saw that her crutches were out of reach, probably kicked by the crowd. She struggled to get to her feet. She could feel bits of amber falling on her. Looking up, she saw that about half the creature was completely free from the amber and thrashing around violently.

 _Don’t panic_ , she thought to herself. _Just get to the exit._ But then she watched as the metal barriers came down, shutting her in.

“No! Wait!”

But it was too late. OK, she was on her own. Fine. That's what she was used to, anyway, the past few weeks notwithstanding. And she'd always succeeded on her own. At the end of the day, you could only count on yourself.

Amity knew she needed to get through those barriers. That meant summoning a big abomination, as big as she possibly could. Amity drew a circle and commanded the abomination to bang on it, but it couldn’t quite bring it down. Amity looked at the ceiling again and saw that the creature was nearly free.

All right, if one abomination wasn’t enough, maybe two could get the job done. But she wasn’t sure she could manifest another abomination in addition to the big one, at least not in her current state of mind. She tried, but all that came out was a tiny thing that wouldn’t be of any help.

Amity looked around the room for anything that could help, but there was nothing. Maybe if she got in a corner and stayed still, she’d survive, but she doubted it. Her only chance was to compose herself and try summoning another abomination again.

Amity felt tears coming to her eyes. _No, keep your cool,_ she thought. _You can do this._ But she wasn't sure that was true.

Then, just as Amity was losing hope, she saw that something was pushing on one metal barriers from the outside! She frantically commanded the big abomination to pull on that door, and soon it came down, revealing a tangle of vines.

“Willow!” Amity's heart soared as she was filled with an incredible sense of relief.

The vines wrapped around Amity and brought her to a corner along with her crutches. Soon, Willow met her there.

"Amity, I’m so sorry! I should’ve never run out without making sure you were safe!"

Without thinking, Amity wrapped Willow in a tight, desperate hug. Willow tensed up for a moment, then relaxed. When Amity realized what she'd done, she withdrew.

"Sorry," Amity said.

“It's OK."

“I thought... I thought I was on my own, but you came back for me!”

“Of course! Are you OK?”

“Yeah, I’m fine!”

“Great! But now that we knocked down that door, that thing could get out and hurt people still in the museum. Think you could help me take care of it?”

Amity nodded.

At that moment, the creature broke completely free of the amber and crashed to the floor, shaking the room.

Amity found that with her crutches she was able to draw larger circles more easily than usual. And now she was able to focus better than ever. Soon, she'd manifested a number of large abominations that held the creature in place. Then, Willow wrapped it in vines until it was finally secured. After that, the two of them got out of the room.

Gus, who had been waiting in the hallway, ran over. “Are you guys OK?”

“Gus, I told you to get out of the museum!” Willow said.

“I couldn’t until I knew you were safe!”

“Willow,” Amity said. “I can’t thank you enough! I’m really lucky to… to know someone like you.”

Amity almost said “to have a friend like you”, but she didn’t want to be presumptuous.

“Of course, Amity! I could never let you get hurt by that thing.”

Suddenly they heard a cry. "Oh my gosh, are you guys OK?!" It was Luz from across the hallway.

Luz ran over to them and wrapped all three in a big hug, which made Amity blush.

“I came back as soon as I saw that you guys weren’t outside!"

"Luz, you came back for me too!" Amity said. "I... I mean for us."

"Of course!"

"Luz, you shouldn't have!" Willow said. "That was dangerous."

"I could say the same to you," Amity said, to which Willow responded with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Are you all OK?!” Luz asked.

“I am,” Amity said. “Thanks to Willow.”

“I couldn’t have gotten that thing under control without you, Amity," Willow said. "We make a pretty good team.”

Amity beamed.

Then a group of demon hunters arrived. “What are you kids doing here? We got called in to take down a ferocious monster.”

“The monster’s all taken care of!” Amity said proudly.

“Really? Great! I love it when people do my job for me! Hey, everybody, take five!”

“We might want to get out of here in case that thing gets free,” Willow said, and the four of them rushed out together.


	9. The Next Day

Making her way through the halls of Hexside the next day, Amity knew that she should be happy just to be in one piece. How could she think of her romantic problems after what she’d been through the night before? But she was. Leaving the museum, she’d been elated right up until the moment when Luz said she needed to get back to Zimmy.

Speak of the devil. Amity spotted Zimmy by his locker right at that moment. Even though she knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, Amity couldn’t help but hate his guts. Did he at least know that he was the luckiest witch in the world? That there was someone out there who desperately wanted to be in his position?

Then, Amity saw Boscha approach Zimmy’s locker. What was going on? Amity crouched in a corner.

“Zimmy,” Boscha said without the pretense of her attempted sweet voice. “How’s it going between you and Luz?”

“Well, we’ve decided not to date anymore,” Zimmy said.

What? Amity’s heart soared and a big grin came over her face. Had she really heard that right? Or had she tricked herself into hearing that out of wishful thinking? If she weren't trying to stay inconspicuous, she probably would've squealed in delight.

“What?!” Boscha said. “I know the date must have been terrible–”

“No,” Zimmy said. “It was really nice.”

“Don’t interrupt me! No matter how terrible it is dating that human, you’re going to do it, understand?”

Amity was aghast. Boscha had strongarmed Zimmy into asking Luz out? _She’d_ put her through all this?

“It wasn’t terrible,” Zimmy said. “I-I’m just not interested in dating anyone right now.”

“Well that’s not up to you. You’re going to march yourself right over to Luz’s locker and tell her you changed your mind.”

“I-I don’t think I can do that.”

“You’d better do what I say if you know what’s good for you, understand?”

Zimmy took a step backward and almost relented, but then the image popped into his head of Luz saying “You’d better do what I say if you know what’s good for you, understand?” in her Boscha impression, and he burst out laughing.

“Hey, what do you think you’re laughing at?”

“Sorry, it’s just–” but before he could explain, he burst out laughing again.

“Stop laughing and go over to Luz!”

“You know, Boscha, I… I really don’t have to do what you tell me to do.” With that, Zimmy walked away.

“Hey! Get back here!” Then Boscha noticed Amity, who was wearing a smirk on her face.

“What are you looking at? Don’t you have anything better to do than spy on me?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Amity replied before walking away, leaving Boscha fuming.

* * *

Amity was ecstatic! If not for the cast, she’d probably be skipping! But then she saw Luz in the hallway with a sad look on her face. Poor Luz. Amity realized that she’d only been thinking about herself.

“Luz,” Amity said. “Are you OK? You look sad.”

“I’ve been kind of having a bad day.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks. They’re making me clean all the cauldrons after school just because I melted one! It’s going to take hours! How was I supposed to know we were supposed to dilute the acid before adding it?”

“Oh… but… how are things with you and Zimmy?”

Luz cheered up. “They’re great! We had a lot of fun last night! We decided not to date anymore, but I think we’re going to be good friends!”

“And you’re not disappointed with that?”

“Not at all! I like Zimmy a lot. He's a great guy, but I don’t think we’d make a good couple.”

“Oh.” Amity looked down at her feet. “So… who’s the kind of person you’d think would make a good couple with you?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. I guess someone who loves magic as much as I do. Someone with some of the same interests as me…”

“Like Azura?!” Amity blurted out.

“Yeah, that’s one of them. Someone I could go on adventures with. Zimmy’s not exactly the adventurous type.”

 _That might have to change if he’s going to be friends with you_ , Amity thought.

Luz paused for a moment and laughed.

"What?” Amity asked.

“I was just thinking, that sounds a lot like you, doesn’t it?”

Amity felt like her heart had stopped. She tried to think of something to say, but couldn’t seem to get anything out.

“Sorry,” Luz said. “That was a weird thing to say, wasn’t it? Forget I said that.”

Amity was not going to forget Luz said that.

"Ugh, well I’d better get started on those cauldrons.”

Luz walked away, and it wasn’t until a few moments after she’d disappeared from sight that Amity came to her senses again.

“Oh, Amity, what’s wrong with you,” she said to herself.

“Amity?”

Amity recognized Willow’s voice from across the hall.

“Willow! Thanks so much for saving me yesterday.”

“You would’ve done the same thing for me.”

“I would have! I really would have, Willow.”

“I know, Amity.”

“Anyway, I’m sorry I didn’t show you the fun time I meant to.”

“That’s OK, Amity. Maybe… maybe we could try it again sometime.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Amity smiled.

“Hey guys!” It was Gus carrying a big paper bag. “Sorry I didn’t help out with that monster yesterday. But I got you both a present to make up for it. Look!”

Gus pulled out two big blocks of amber from the paper bag.

“They found these eggs in the amber along with that creature! They were selling them at the gift shop.”

“Gus, that thing almost killed me!” Amity said. “Why would I want that?”

“Huh, I didn’t think of that.”

“Just be careful with those, Gus,” Willow said.

“You know me, I’m always careful."

Right after saying that, Gus dropped both blocks. The amber shattered, and immediately the eggs hatched. Tiny versions of the creature from the museum started crawling around. Before long, students were running and screaming through the hallways.

“Gus!” Amity and Willow yelled in unison.

Gus let out a few nervous chuckles. “Hey, the three of us can fix this in no time. Right, guys? Guys? Hey, where are you going?”


End file.
